I need some support!

jfski

Dear All,

This is the first time I have posted on here and I'm having a bad day!

Yet again we are struggling to cover our bills coming out and I'm going to have to put the weekly shop on the credit card.

I'm very worried that we are just going further into debt!

At the moment we are managing to pay our minimum payments by the skin of our teeth. We have a loan - paid off but still owe about £2000, 2 x Virgin cards, 1 x Barclaycard, 1 x Gold card 1 x Santander card = £14,000 all on 0% and we're up to our overdraft limits on both accounts of £1000 each. The trouble is we're both self employed and since the recession income has been up and down. We've had hen and stag wkends to pay for and weddings of close friends -the truth is we have no money left ever for social activities, clothes etc. Life is challenging - especially when all your friends are high earners.

Please tell me how this may get better. Is this amount of debt a lot? Plus we've been trying for a baby and I know that the stress is affecting us!

Choc-addict

jfski wrote: »

Dear All,

This is the first time I have posted on here and I'm having a bad day!

Yet again we are struggling to cover our bills coming out and I'm going to have to put the weekly shop on the credit card.

I'm very worried that we are just going further into debt!

At the moment we are managing to pay our minimum payments by the skin of our teeth. We have a loan - paid off but still owe about £2000, 2 x Virgin cards, 1 x Barclaycard, 1 x Gold card 1 x Santander card = £14,000 all on 0% and we're up to our overdraft limits on both accounts of £1000 each. The trouble is we're both self employed and since the recession income has been up and down. We've had hen and stag wkends to pay for and weddings of close friends -the truth is we have no money left ever for social activities, clothes etc. Life is challenging - especially when all your friends are high earners.

Please tell me how this may get better. Is this amount of debt a lot? Plus we've been trying for a baby and I know that the stress is affecting us!

Hey,

Didn't want to read and run. Sorry that this is causing you both a lot of stress and with trying for baby that is never good

Perhaps post a Statement of Affairs (think theres a link thingy somewhere) and then get some advice from the lovely people here - they may have some good suggestions.

Wishing you lots of luck,x

La_escocesa

Hi jfski

Welcome to MSE :beer:

Everyone says the best place to start is by doing a statement of affairs - http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html and then format for MSE at the bottom - and then peeps can see where they think you can cut back.

It's good that your cc's are on 0% just now. I guess you're worried about when the deals end... you could also fill out a snowball calculator to see in which order it's best to pay off the debts. http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx

You might find that when your 0% offer ends you get offered another deal (life of balance/low interest for 6m etc). You never know.

I know what it's like when your friends all earn more than you do, but the truth is that you don't always know what their circumstances are either - they might also be struggling - so don't get yourself down in the dumps comparing yourself to them.

As for all the weddings and extra outgoings you could try to up your income to cover these. I've joined pigsback and swapping points for vouchers, selling things on ebay /Amazon/music magpie to offset expenses. Is there anything you bought on those CCs that could be sold?

I also got rid of my car and hire one if I ever need it for a weekend away etc and that saved me loads of cash and worry (no more panic whenever road tax/mot/insurance is due - I never factored in those things until the last min!)

And I also started a spending diary to see where all my extra pennies were going. http://www.spendingdiary.com/

By joining in on a few of the challenges it all doesn't seem so daunting.

Good luck!

Little_Miss_Uni-Debt

Hey there Jfski!

Firstly, well done for posting on here. It's a hard first step!

Ok so you currently have about 5 credit cards and overdrafts. Don't panic, just be glad you have started to tackle this and not left it any longer!

As you are addressing the situation that is the first hurdle! It is ALL 'solveable' and the sooner you get organised the less you will have to pay back!!

You can take real chunks off your outgoings once you know exactly what you owe. Then the people on here will help you to find ways to get this all paid off ASAP.

What I would advise first is to make a list of exactly who you have cards with and their current balances and current apr % (if 0%, when does it end and what will they go up to?)

Please spend a day gathering this information. Once you know how much you owe we can then look at your income and see what is left over each month. Then find ways to cut back on spending to free up more to put towards your social lives and paying off the debt quicker!

Once you have taken time to get your current balances then go to the Statement Of Affairs calculator :-http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

Input what you are currently spending each month. Click the MSE button and copy and paste back up here.

We can then help you to rearrange your outgoings and get you a solid budget you can stick to each month!!!

jfski

Hi Guys,

Thanks so much for the replies. It's scary but I will fill out the form....the only !!!!!! is that my husband's earnings go up and down so much which makes budgeting a nightmare! I know what I earn though so that's one stable thing!

I'll do it and then we ca really see!! keep you posted, thanks for your support I feel better already! xx

RAS

For your OH's income, take what he recieved in the last 13 weeks or so and average that. (maybe put the minimum and maximum in a note).

You need to cover the basics in a poor month and throw any extra in a good month at the debt.

bargainbetty

I am going to get absolutely lynched for this, so let me cover my self - I don't know your age, circumstances or anything else. I have no kids myself so, with all that said.....

If you are up to your eyeballs in debt now, is it the best time to be trying for a baby? Perhaps you could take that stress off yourself, and spend a year sorting out your finances before you look at bringing a baby into it. Having a child doesn't have to be very expensive, but there are unavoidable costs, and it means one income will disappear for a while.

*runs away and hides under a desk *

Edit: Honestly, I like kids, and don't think you should not have them, just wait a little bit, if biologically possible?

jfski

here goes......

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 2

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 850
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1300 average over 3 months (husbands earnings Feb £907, March £1382, April £1553
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2150

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 942.2
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 105
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 152
Electricity............................. 40
Gas..................................... 40
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 32
Telephone (land line)................... 20
Mobile phone............................ 60
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 22.03
Internet Services....................... 0 - internet is coupled with Sky
Groceries etc. ......................... 240
Clothing................................ 34
Petrol/diesel........................... 40
Road tax................................ 16
Car Insurance........................... 16
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0 Dad is a mechanic and looks after cars 4 free
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 13.38
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 10
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 30
Haircuts................................ 5
Entertainment........................... 26
Holiday................................. 0 - would love to go on hols but can't afford it
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1855.61


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 215000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 216000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 177597...(942.2)....5.18%
from parents...................27000....(105)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 204597....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description.................... Debt......Monthly...APR
Gold Card HSBC.................1900......38.26.....16.9
Virgin......................... 5698......58.02.....0
Virgin 2....................... 3721......25........0
Barclaycard.................... 3480......78.31.....0
Santander...................... 1352......30.42.....0
Total unsecured debts.......... 16151.....230.01...


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,150
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,855.61
Available for debt repayments........... 294.39
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 230.01
Amount left after debt repayments....... 64.38

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 216,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -204,597
Total Unsecured debt.................... -16,151
Net Assets.............................. -4,748

Help??? how can I pay off debt and have any money to live life?!!

Happytogetdebtfree

Hi and welcome to the boards, have you anything you can sell on ebay? stop and dont compare yourself to how others are living or seem to be, they may too have debt even if they are high earners, focus on you and your oh and be realistic, any debt is not nice when its hard to manage, i know it seems like you are making no headways but im sure with th ecards been 0% you are taking off the balance, when do they end ? can you up your income? can you take an intrest free only mortgage ? or take a mortage holiday if it helps clear some of the debts then you could up your mortage bill so it doesnt affect the break.... chin up and well done for posting xx

jfski

Hi Happytogetdebtfree,

Thanks for your post x

With regards to the cards - one of the Virgin ones ends this month and Santander NOV 2010, other Virgin - Jan 2011, Barclaycard DEC 2010.

I asked to go Mortgage only and we can't we don't have enough equity apparantly!! could really do with that to clear some debt.

With regards to increasing income - my hubbie is self employed and if he gets some bigger contracts in then our income will increase. It's just WHEN!!!

Not really sure what to do when 0% comes to an end with cards?? I'm worried I won't be able to get any more 0% ones.

Any ideas on how we can keep interest low? xx

jfski

Hi to Bargain betty,

I understand what you're saying. When we started trying 8 months ago our income was higher and now having tried for 8 months I feel like I want to keep on trying. I know there is the added pressure with having debt but because of us both being self employed we can still carry on working and share childcare. My main hope is that our income goes up again - in April my hubbie earnt £1553 which is around £253 more than normal!! lets hope it continues xx thanks for your post though I know you're speaking sense, it's a tricky one